Meritocracy, A Utopian Fantasy.

Work hard and you will succeed in life because after all you get out what you put in. This is a statement that I, as well as the majority of other young people have been told for as long as i can remember and at face value, the concept that school/university rewards you based on your work ethic and ability rather than your race, gender, ethnicity or background sounds legitimate and to an extent it is true because the opportunity is there for anyone to achieve success, especially if you live in a developed country however there are underlying issues within society which prevent this from being complete reality.

For starters, society is set up as a meritocracy, this means that everyone has equal opportunity and thus where you end up in life is down to you and the choices you make, for example choosing to study or not study for an exam will ultimately determine whether or not you are able to get good grades and in turn attend a good university and or get a good job. However, Meritocracy is in essence a myth because it ignores the covert variables than affect a students ability to perform and compete against his fellow pupils. an example of this would be 'culture capital', or the lack there of. Culture capital refers to practical skills or know-how that a person needs to gain advantage in a particular cultural setting. These skills include the ability to self monitor and self-motivate,  being able to sit still and follow directions; being able to read and digest abstract material – this being material that isn't immediately related to personal day to day life; and being able to judge when and how it’s okay to ask for help, to assert one’s opinion in an argument, or to exercise one’s personal creativity. These different skills and perspectives `all have an influence on pupils performance during all stages of education, from primary school up until university. Unfortunately however, these skills are learnt primarily through primary socialisation, that being the norms and values you are exposed to within your immediate household, specifically from your parent(s). This exposes the fallacy of meritocracy because in order for everyone to have equal opportunity for success, we must first all have access to the same resources and due to the vast wealth inequality that exists in society today, this is an assumption that is by default incorrect. While an upper middle class household is capable of providing the necessary mental stimulation as well as material resources which are conducive to academic success, a lower working class household is not. This doesn't mean if your're raised in a working class household you cannot be successful, it just means you have to work a lot harder in order to do so. 

Meritocracy by definition is actually a very nice concept, the notion that one should be rewarded based on work ethic, ambition and skill rather than background simply makes sense and is the system i believe would be most conducive to a truly equal society. However in  order for this to become a reality, we must first establish wealth equality, and by this I mean implementing a living wage rather than a minimum wage .Some people work full-time on minimum wage and still don't make enough money to survive and thus are disadvantaged n regards to their ability to adequately provide the environment best suited for academic success, Establishing a minimum wage would bridge the gap between the working class and the vastly wealthy, therefore allowing for a more meritocratic society.

However the pessimist in me realises that this is near fantasy because it'll be a long time and take a lot of work to convince corporations to actually put people before profit margins, so for now, a truly meritocratic society is but a Utopian fantasy.  

RonaldTalks. An introduction.

Hello,

My Name is Ronald and welcome to my blog. In a world where corporations value profit over people, where unarmed black men are shot everyday by same officers meant to serve and protect them, where the worlds top 1% hold more wealth than the bottom 50% it is crucial for those of us able, to rise up and push for change through diplomacy, rational discourse and cooperation. This blog was created in order to address and provide information concerning the issues challenging the world today. This includes but is not limited to Race Relations in western society, Institutional racism, Income inequality, gender inequality, religious conflict and climate change among others.  I hope that through this blog I can provide information and enlighten people on issues they would otherwise not hear about or be misinformed about by mainstream media. I am by no means a decorated Academic however that is something I aspire to be. I hope to one day work as a independent journalist or for a NGO with the same goals and views as myself. I would work as a hired journalist also so long as it was a reputable organisation such as Vice News or the TYT network.

Key thinkers that have shaped my mode of thinking include Noam Chomsky, Christopher Hitchins, J.S Mill, Jawaharlal Nehru, MLK and Karl Marx among others. I believe as conscious beings we have a duty to maintain and improve the standard of living as best we can while we're here in order to ensure the safety and betterment of future generations. I am currently an international Relations and Politics Undergraduate with a background in Sociology, Psychology and Human Geography. All views are my own,  if you disagree  feel free to provide counter arguments as I believe open dialogue and rational debate are  key components to expanding ones mind. This is my first post and serves more as an introduction, and foundation for what i hope to achieve in the future.  I aim to post here as often as possible, aiming at 3-5 days a week depending on my academic responsibilities. Stay tuned, Stay Woke.